Jihongqiao Relic Site

On the Lancang River at the junction of Baoshan City and Yongping County in Yunnan Province, there is an iron chain bridge flying over a cliff. The Jihong Bridge before 1986 is the oldest iron chain bridge in my country. The location of Jihong Bridge is the ancient Lanjin ferry in the Western Han Dynasty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the song "Crossing Bonan, Yue Lanjin" was circulated. Two centuries before the emergence of the Silk Road, the "Southwest Silk Road", which started from Xichang, Sichuan, passed through Yao'an, Xiaguan, Baoshan, Yunnan, and entered India and other countries had been formed. Jihong Bridge was the throat on this ancient post road. This place used to be a ferry for boats in ancient times; the Tengmiao Bridge was erected at the beginning of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty; the wooden bridge was rebuilt in Yuanzhen year (1295), and it was named Jihong Bridge; the iron cable bridge was rebuilt in the eleventh year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (1475), and Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty Rebuilt every year. According to legend, when the iron chain bridge was built, the original wooden bridge was washed away by the river, and it was very difficult to transport the thick, thousands of kilograms and hundreds of meters long iron chains from the east bank to the west bank. A young craftsman was inspired by archery and hunting beasts. According to his suggestion, the craftsmen used several hemp ropes of different thicknesses on the steep east bank, tied from thin to thick hemp ropes as long as iron chains, and then tied the thick ends. It is tied to an iron chain, the thin head is tied to the tail of the arrow, and it is shot to the west bank. The craftsmen on the west bank tie the hemp rope to the winch, shake the runner, and drag the chain to the west bank, and fix it on the iron cast iron buried several meters deep underground. year on the pile. Jihong Bridge has a span of 57.3 meters and a width of 3.7 meters. It is suspended by 18 iron chains on both sides, and the bridge deck is laid on it. The cliffs on the west bank of Jihong Bridge are engraved with the words "Wandering the Cliff" and "Golden Teeth Throat" written by the literati and writers of the past dynasties; the famous geographer Xu Xiake once visited this bridge. Jihongqiao is a key road that must be passed through in the development of the southwest in the past dynasties, and it is of great significance in terms of geographical location. There used to be a tax office and a case-handling agency on the bridge. In May 1942, the Japanese invading army sent more than 30 planes to bomb Jihong Bridge, but Guqiao was spared due to the dangerous terrain. In 1986, the ancient bridge was washed away by floods, and only the ruins remain today.